The
loss marked the third straight season the MSU was eliminated from the
NJAC Tournament by the Lions. TCNJ, which won the regular-season
matchup 61-58 on January 12, defeated MSU in the semifinals in 2006 and
the opening round last year.

Montclair,
which had its four-game winning streak snapped, fell to 17-10 overall.
The Red Hawks will now wait to see if they are selected to the ECAC
Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, March 5. Bid announcements will
be made on Monday, March 3. MSU is the defending Metro champion as it
claimed its fifth ECAC title in 2007.

TCNJ
led 35-16 at the break and opened the game on a 7-0 run. Leading the
way for the Lions was the 2007-2008 NJAC Player of the Year, junior
center Hillary Klimowicz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) as
she led all players with 12 points and helped TCNJ shoot 50.0% from the
floor (15-30).

By game’s end, Klimowicz led all
players with 19 points, while just missing the double-double as she had
nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

TCNJ’s freshman Kelsey Kutch (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough), the
2007-2008 NJAC Rookie of the Year, added a double-double with 11 points
and a career-best 16 rebounds. Senior Sara Best (High Bridge,
NJ/Voorhees) also connected on a double-double for the Lions as she had
12 points and 11 rebounds.

MSU’s senior guard Jessica Garrabrant (Denville, NJ / Morris Knolls)
had her streak of double-doubles snapped after three in her previous
outings. She finished with seven points, and was held to just two
rebounds. Garrabrant fell short of becoming the fifth player in school
history to record 1,000 rebounds as has 996.

Cristino also had three blocks while sophomore guard Kisandra Ayanbeku (Burlington, MA / Randolph) scored six points with a team-high six rebounds.